The Value of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) in 2022

Also known as agriculture 4.0, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) focuses on maximizing profitability and sustainability by providing the specific treatment needed to optimize production. It uses advanced sensor systems to collect data and then assesses that data to identify the ideal combination of inputs and systems. This process reduces wastage and increases yield.

We should clarify that while Precision Farming is often used synonymously with Smart Farming, the former is a subset of the latter. SLF focuses on data capture and analysis to maximize productivity and efficiency; PLF relies on precise measurements and precise application to accomplish the same goal.

In this article, we will be discussing the use of Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), which includes its technological requirements, applications, and potential. Precision agriculture relies on certain common technologies such as automation, sensors, AI, and analytics software.

AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS

From monitoring the physiological condition of cows to feed regulators, automation is an undeniably useful feature of precision agriculture on dairy farms. Automation is valued for its quality maintenance, efficient performance, and time-saving capability across industries. Automation on a dairy farm comes at two levels of complexity:

Physical Robots

These are the simple machines that perform menial tasks in and around the farm.

• Automated dairy installations adapt the milking frequency to lactation stages by identifying and adjusting themselves to individual herd members. They may also be programmed to allow the animal to enter the milking station without having to wait for milking time, which reduces the stress on the livestock caused by holding uncomfortably large volumes of milk.
• Automated weighing systems can utilize software in the cameras to calculate the accurate mean weight spontaneously and unintrusively.
• Automated feeders may use Variable-Rate Technology to regulate intake to reduce obesity and meet nutritional standards. They can also create optimal mixtures based on the animal’s specific needs.
• Automated cleaning systems improve hygiene to lower the risk of infection and facilitate the ease of access for waste removal machinery.
• 3D printers can allow commercial livestock farmers to fully adopt capital-intensive systems by 3D printing machine replacement parts.

Drones

The drone services market size is expected to grow to $63.6 billion by 2025. Let’s explore the potential of adopting this widely available technology on cattle ranches in the US.

• Drones help to locate cattle over vast distances, which saves time and effort for the herders.
• In conjunction with tags, facial expression readers, or electromagnetic RFID tags, drones can monitor the health indicators of individual herd members. This includes weight, heart rate, grazing rumination, mobility, etc.
• UAVs can even compel the cows to move away, hence acting as a valuable resource for efficiently rounding up the herd in the face of an impending storm.
• Observer UAVs are utilized to distinguish between animals and other objects, identifying a sick cow or a broken fence.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA is the next stratum that goes beyond performing tasks to enabling machinery to carry out repetitive or strenuous tasks. Using software bots, it automates tasks such as loading and unloading materials and products, slaughtering, packaging, and cattle monitoring. Sometimes RPA works in conjunction with Intelligent Automation which utilizes AI to develop software and processes that can adapt and improve independently.

The cattle and beef industry generally faces the challenge of complex processes. However, much of the labor can be easily redirected toward areas that require creativity and human intervention. RPA is easily integrated with existing IT systems and requires no prior programming expertise to operate, making it relatively easier to adopt.

Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is a subclass of RPA that segments systems into separate processes. DES can be used on a livestock farm to identify the events affecting the fluctuation of yields such as lactation stage, weather events, diseases, or feeding practices. Hence, DES can aid in the modification and optimization of processes used to assuage inconsistencies.

SENSORS

From satellites to mounted ear tags, sensors can be used for spectral, spatial, and radiometric applications across pastoral land.

Satellite-based monitoring

The satellite-based monitoring of cattle has been gaining traction in the last 3 years, especially among large-scale Australian cattle ranchers. From basic data-collection systems such as ARGOS and GPS to advanced software developed by LoneStar and Moovement, tracking tags can now perform a variety of functions. Monitoring and analysis of special and temporal data on cattle location, movement, and interaction can provide benefits such as

• Checking their current physical condition
• Determining which animals are high-performing
• Measuring stress levels and how they can affect production and fertility
• Getting better financial and insurance options because of more accurate and reliable animal tracking.
• Faster data sampling: Precision Hawk’s agricultural drones can “gather data on 500 to 1,000 acres in less than a day.”

Ground-based Platforms

• Near-infrared spectroscopy can instantaneously decipher the composition of raw materials, assess digestibility, and perform chemical and technological analysis of milk.
• Infrared thermal imaging technology can even be used as a screening technique to identify foot-and-mouth disease-infected animals.
  • It was found that the longevity of cows negatively correlated with the yield level, and intervals between calvings. Cow health must be retained until they reach optimal maturity and production, hence the causes for culling, such as disease and injury, should be reduced.
  • Data such as this can also be used to develop genetic selection models.
• Heat sensors in cameras at the milking station can also help monitor traits like body composition, metabolism, lactation, fertility, etc. Based on this, they may alert the farmers of inflammation and potential infection.
• Milk monitoring sensors can now evaluate the quality of the yield by scanning for pathogenic life forms that could cause diseases such as bovine mastitis. This function is often part of an Internet of Things-based system that can determine the spoilage of milk. A salinity and level sensor can also ensure the appropriate packaging of milk.

Mounted Devices

• Other sensors include pedometers, accelerometers, pressure sensors, and temperature sensors which are often integrated into foot tags to detect estrus, ill health, and weight gain and connected to a network to establish an Internet of Things.

ANALYSIS

Weather patterns and climate disasters are becoming more and more unpredictable and unavoidable as a result of climate change. But the rate of human information processing is far outpaced by the learning ability of AI and deep neural networks (DNNs).

Let us delve into the applications of various modes of data analysis on pastoral farms. There are 4 main types of Data Analytics:

Descriptive Analytics: The process of

• discovering similarities between symptoms to create a disease model
• identifying datasets to assist in tracking herd populations and the propagation of infectious agents
• separating abnormalities and ensuring a relatively heterogenous pastoral resource.
• finding correlations between variables
• identify the optimum feed time and release food accordingly, as is done by Tassal, a Tasmanian salmon producer.

Predictive Analytics

This involves leveraging artificial neural networks and machine learning techniques to:

• Categorize animals and herds by their future performance rates.
• Estimate the likelihood of disasters, opportunities, and the extent of their destruction or benefits given the farm’s current infrastructural condition.
• Uncover insights regarding vaccine and inoculation responses.

Prescriptive Analytics 

this is an advanced function whose focus is converting theoretical data into practical methods, such as

• The optimization of grazing rotation, transportation cycles, protocols for curbing the advance of outbreaks, etc.
• Minimize excesses and shortages or dispose of waste in an environmentally beneficial manner.
• Utilize by-products such as gelatin, leather, and internal organs most efficiently and profitably.
• Finds ways to assuage delays in the supply chain by improving transparency and harmoniously managing inventory.
• Using the sensing system to solve problems that improve the agricultural ecosystem, as done by Australian agtech company, the Yield.

Benefits of Precision Livestock Farming

Heightened Profitability

High-value AI-driven drones and equipment can harvest inputs with greater accuracy, leading to higher productivity and a significant drop in expenditure. This method can also eliminate losses from deadly diseases like anthrax, white muscle disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Improved Understanding of In-Season Yield

The precise imagery and sensor collected data can provide insights into areas of improvement and weakness, potential opportunities for growth, or upcoming threats. The yield forecasts can help a farmer plan ahead and address upcoming spikes in dairy demand.

Enhanced Sustainability

Precision livestock farming is a flexible mechanism that can be used to target a multiplicity of factors, depending on the goals of the user. Sustainability is a rising concern today, given that soil maintenance is an important aspect of animal husbandry, and the rising social opposition against large-scale cattle rearing is methane emissions and contributions to climate change. One can mold the structure to reduce wastage and carbon footprints by identifying carbon mitigating techniques.

Factors affecting the Adoption of PLA technology

Performance Expectancy

The perceived usefulness of the overall system will affect the farmer’s likelihood of transitioning to the new style of pastoral agriculture. In order for the adoption to go smoothly, the extrinsic benefits, such as yield, profit, time, and sustainability, should be clear. The provision of a  competitive advantage over other dairy suppliers also plays a major role in the considerations.

Effort Expectancy

This regards the perceived complexity involved in the operation of the system. The extent to which this interconnected technology will affect their daily routines and the difficulty they face in completing cumbersome tasks.

Social Influence

The farmer will also take into account the effect of the installation of complex artificially driven systems on his reputation. On a traditionally labor-intensive farm, there may be a stigma against technology that has the potential to replace human functions. Furthermore, there may be personal agreements and relationships that farm managers may be reluctant to forego. This decision may also impact the kind of workers and suppliers he chooses because complacency and tardiness are not preferable on a precision livestock farm.


” Elianne Liong is a staff writer for Celeritas Digital.  She specializes in researching and publishing content related to a range of topics in the animal health and veterinary industry, including technology transformation, business processes, HR, data science, and advanced analytics. “